Trial Run
by VizzyHC
Summary: Little drabbles and short stories about the Visored over the years.
1. After the final battle

To say that the past few days hadn't gone as well as they could have would be to say the least.

It had been 3 days since the defeat of Souske Aizen and since the Visored had returned to their base to heal their wounds after the true Karakura town had been returned to the world of the living and the remaining Soul Reapers returned to their own dimension.

Shinji and the other Visored hadn't so much as fled as they somewhat frantically limped back to their base out of fear of their sort-of allies turning on them and putting them in jars in the twelfth. Upon arrival they had moved their mattresses to the center of the main building, they hastily checked their wounds and bandaged as much as they could before they collectively passed out in main room of the Warehouse out of exhaustion into a deep sleep, to which not a single one awoke in the following 16 hours.

Aside from the youngest- at least in appearance- of their group surviving being cut in half, in comparison the rest had gotten off easy, but were left to heal the old fashioned way as Hachi was hesitant to perform any sort of kido with his newly repaired arm. It wasn't that Hachi didn't trust Unohana's amazing work, he was just being cautious. In the 100 years that the Visoreds had been together, Hachi's self taught kido skills had not only saved their asses time and time again but it had reached unimaginable levels, to the point in which with a few snaps of his fingers that he could complete spells that were were in the 70s and 80s and even use his new and far more powerful spells. At least before he sacrificed his hand to defeat Barragan and with this potentially unreliable and untrained new hand he gently refused to try any healing kido of his own until he was sure that he wouldn't slip up and potentially hurt a member of their little family.

It was that choice that led Shinji to wake up on the third morning after the war to a group of soundly sleeping half-hollows.

To save themselves the effort of having to continuously going up and down stairs to the bedrooms or jumping from one crumbling platform to another, they had dragged all their mattresses down into the center of the Warehouse near the entrance to the training grounds, the hidden door open in case they would need to quickly hide. The result ended up looking like a fight club sleepover.

As he began to get up and stretch, Shinji took notice of the various injuries that the group was dealing with, which was no small list. He viewed the now unusually quiet Visoreds as they all slept wearing nothing but comfy pajamas.

Mashiro was laying on her side, curled around a large pillow, wearing nothing but an orange sports bra and a pair of matching pajama shorts with large, ugly bruises covering her body, most of which were still a painful shade of purple, a black eye visibly throbbing from one of Wonderweiss's punches with broken blood vessels stretching out across her face from the bruise. He grimaced at the sight of the nearly black bruise around her neck from the arrancar swinging her around by her scarf, just looking at it made Shinji's neck hurt. Off the side of the mattress, half hidden by the kicked off blanket was a small pile of ice packs that would need to go back into the freezer when she exchanged those for new ones to dull some of the pain.

Beside her, Kensei was laying flat on his back one hand on his forehead, his other near Mashiro's, not quite touching her hand but close enough to feel if she moved at all during her sleep. He wasn't quite as injured as some of the others but using his mask and his bankai in one day had exhausted him, and when he used them as often as he did and against so many high level hollows, it left him at minimal functionality, leaving him to act on autopilot. The only times he had gotten up over the past few days were to use the bathroom or eat the first food object he saw before immediately flopping back onto the mattress. Judging from past experience Shinji guessed that at some point today that Kensei would return to the land of the conscious and finally act like a legitimate soul being.

Rose, who usually attempted to do everything with grace, was flopped face down on his mattress, limbs splayed out in a the least artistic manner. Bandages covered slashes, burns, and large bruises here and there, but once again the over use of a mask had caused problems. Rose's inner hollow, Arpeggio, was a rude little thing that hated bending to his Maestro's control and in retaliation for using the hollow like a instrument of destruction whenever he pleased, the little bastard would make the the poor Visored throw up the liquid bone of the hollow mask for days at a time, leaving him exhausted and unable to keep any food down until the hollow would believe his Maestro had suffered enough, thus there was a need to keep a large bucket on hand wherever the Visoreds made their home. Considering that the now half full bucket had been replaced just a few hours earlier meant that Rose hadn't sleep soundly last night as Shinji had thought and that it was probably another day without food for him, and with a wince Shinji noticed that fragments of Rose's mask had also come up with the hollow vomit, which would mean that someone would have to check to make sure that his throat wasn't cut up. The first time that happened Rose had ended up puking up blood alongside the liquid bone and had lost his voice for nearly a week and had left the rest of the gang mentally scarred.

Mentally adding checking out Rose's throat to his list, Shinji turned to where Love was snoring away. Love was wearing only a pair of pajama pants, leaving his upper body bared and half off the mattress. Small cuts and bruises were here and there but a continuous dark purple bruise encircled his body several times over from where Aizen had used Kinshara to bind Love when they tried to take him down. Kinshara was not a friendly weapon in the slightest and even just a glancing blow could leave a nasty bruise or cut depending on what part hit you, but getting wrapped up in it and then getting yanked to the ground from a few hundred feet in the air was definitely not going to make for a fun time. Before the puking had begun and they had all passed out, Rose had been apologizing nonstop for letting something like that happen, to which Love had to continuously tell him that he was okay. Love had taken it like a champ, even moving most of the mattresses himself before flopping down on his own, simply stating "sleep now, ache later" and had only risen a few times to perform his bodily needs and get ice packs.

Lisa began to roll over in her sleep, a sure sign that she was going to awaken in the next hour. Sure she had the least amount of injuries, but she had dutifully been tending to the various injuries of the others, and judging from the fact that she had one of Rose's shirts near her meant that she had probably been the one to hold back all that long hair when he was turning himself inside out and then help him change out of cloths that most likely had also gotten splashed, and the dark circles under her eyes also meant that she probably had been up with the two most injured until she had passed out.

Hachi had fallen asleep sitting up on his easy chair, a strange habit of his that he had even prior to the exodus to the world of the living that still frightened a majority of the Visored, though not as much as when he fell asleep with his eyes open, but that did lead to a few funny moments. Rose and Love had once kept up a one sided conversation with Hachi for nearly 2 hours before he woke up, but Hachi was so passive that no one found out until dinner that night when he admitted that he had no idea what Love and Rose were talking about.

His new arm was in a sling against his chest, resting while his other arm was slightly gripping the appendage even in his sleep. For Hachi, whose kido relied mainly on his ability to use his hands, giving up one of his hands had probably been one of the hardest things he had ever done, and something he never wanted to do again. Despite only keeping up the minimum amount of barriers, they all knew that Hachi was exhausted from only doing that after all the work he did to take down Barragan and keep Hiyori alive until Unohana had arrived. Shinji noted that Hachi had his old copies of kido books spread around him, pen marking the pages where he was having trouble making certain hand gestures, and guessing from the fact that nearly all the pages were colored with red ink meant either Hachi was in one of his perfectionism moods or that the hand was giving him actual trouble, which wouldn't mean anything good.

Aside from a few cuts and bruises Shinji had gotten away easy, the wound on his back making him wince every time he had to move his arms, or bend down, or breathe, the injury that worried them all the most was the deadly blow that Gin Ichimaru had dealt a certain blonde that had left one half of her in Shinji's arms and the other half nearly two blocks away, which in the process of hitting the ground had broken her right ankle. Thankfully Unohana had been able to put the young girl back together and fix the ankle after Hachi had dragged her pieces back together and desperately tried to keep her alive, but Hiyori had yet to make any movements on her own. She was sleeping so deeply that every once and awhile one of the Visored would check to make sure she was still breathing, but that was just one of their worries. There was the chance that Hiyori may never walk or even move her legs again, but what worried them more was the fact that she had yet to wake up. Shinji couldn't remember if she had eaten anything that day, and with each passing day it was another that she didn't eat anything, and if she didn't wake up soon they would have to take drastic measures to find someway to get her nutrients and fluids beyond dripping water into her mouth to keep her from drying up. They weren't doctors and Shinji was ready to call Urahara at a moment's notice to beg for his help.

Shinji sat on the edge of her mattress and felt like absolute crap that she had ended up that way. Pale, with dark circles under her eyes she looked exhausted for someone who had been sleeping for 3 days. Her hair was let down from her pigtails and fell in neat waves around her face after Mashiro had taken the time to brush the dust out if it, something she only got to do when Hiyori was in one of her rare good moods and was willing to play nice with others.

Shinji sighed and gently ran a hand down one of her cheeks, his heart sinking even lower when not even that got her to make any sort of reaction, not even an unconscious one. It had only been three days but he was aching for their old routine where Hiyori would wake up with the sun as always, and start running about, getting ready for the day, waking up the other Visored as she went about her little schedules. Sometimes she would be gracious and change the schedule to let others sleep in a little bit more while others were cursed to be the ones she chose to rise early. He missed all of them being healthy enough to get up and all eat breakfast together, but so long as Hachi's kido wasn't up to par and unless one of them suddenly had the ability to use healing kido or stop angry little hollows inside their heads from throwing massive fits they were stuck healing the old fashioned way while waiting for Hiyori to make her decision to either wake up or—

"Shinji?" He turned to see Lisa sitting up, stretching as she let out a massive yawn. "Any response yet?"

"No. The little brat is taking her own sweet time waking up." Shinji's tease felt hollow, the smile forced as he lightly brushed a finger against the tip of Hiyori's nose, saddened as there was still no response. "Anyway you look terrible. Were you up helping Rose last night?"

Lisa nodded, "He nearly choked on a chunk of mask and as soon as I managed to Heimlich it out of him he puked nonstop for nearly 3 hours."

As she let out another yawn Shinji raised his arms above his head is a lazy stretch, "You take it easy, get some more sleep. I can handle whatever comes for a few more hours."

"This coming from someone whose injury is causing him pain every time he moves, but refuses any sort of treatment aside from a bandage?" Love grunted as he raised himself off of the mattress, grimacing as the Kinshara wounds protested. "We all need to rest, even you oh so fearless leader, unless you think that the moment that you decide to rest that Pharaoh will try to take over again?"

Ah the ever frustrating issue of the hollows inside their inner worlds. Because it got so frustrating to just call them 'Kensei's inner hollow' or 'Lisa's inner hollow' all the time, the hollows had consented to taking on names. Now and days the Hollows were now content to laze around in the inner worlds of their rulers, calling the former soul reapers their king, princess, master, and so on, but sometimes the little bastards liked to tease them and play games. Rose and Kensei had their little problems happen every once in awhile but the hollows still liked to whisper into the minds of their masters, trying to needle them into letting the hollow take over, even for just a tiny bit of time.

One thing that happened pretty often would be that while meditating, sleeping, or even when just conversing with their hollow that they would unconsciously form their masks, waking up to find that they had been meditating or sleeping comfortably with a hollow mask adorning their face, which even after 100 hundred years would still leave them jumping out of bed in a panic, and was the very reason why when they would sometimes nap up of the ledges of the warehouse that they had to be careful to place themselves near the wall furthest from the edge, especially after Love broke his arm when he jumped up and there was no floor to catch him. It had also been his bad luck that he had been the last to wake up that day so the rest of the Visoreds got to watch fierce captain Aikawa let out a distinctly unmanly yelp and then fall 15ft to the concrete below with a comical thud.

Shinji smiled to himself as he recalled the moment, chuckling as the echo of Love's screech, and began thinking back on all the memories of the past centuries that they all had shared… who would have thought that they would have ended up where they were now?

That small happy moment was interrupted as Hachi gave out a small snort and sat up straighter. Eyes wide he turned to the three other Visored. "Someone just knocked on my barrier."

"What?" Lisa and Love began to disentangle themselves from their blankets as Shinji jumped up from Hiyori's side to run to one of the broken windows in the front of the warehouse, heart nearly dropping out of his chest as all the current captains and lieutenants, along with a few other scattered members of the Thirteen Court Guard squads stood outside of the Kido barrier surrounding the warehouse, guided by Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukibihi. Most of them looked confused and a little girl with pink hair kept poking the barrier, making Hachi jump every time the sensitive barrier was touched.

Shinji grumbled, wondering what in hell they were doing here, when for a scary moment he thought 'they're here to finally execute us', a sentiment he knew was probably running through the minds of his fellow Visored.

"Shinji Hirako, Love Aikawa, Rojuro Otoroibashi, Kensei Murgurama, Hachigan Ushoda, Lisa Yadomaru, Hiyori Sarugaki, and Mashiro Kuna." Captain Yamamoto's voice rang out, awakening every one of the sleeping Visored except for one. For someone with a fire zanpaktou he sure knew how to make someone feel like their blood was freezing. "We ask that you take down the Kido barrier so we may speak with all of you."

Almost immediately the room went into panic mode. For once in the past few days Kensei was up and actively participating in a situation, Rose and Lisa were frozen in place, Love and Shinji were jumping for their swords, Hachi was preparing to throw out another set of barriers to knock back the soul reapers to allow them to escape to the training grounds when Mashiro managed to stop all of them in their tracks as she turned to Kensei and began to cry as she looked up at him "Kensei, are they gonna finally execute us?"

"Mash…" Lisa walked over and pulled her into a hug before turning to Shinji. "What are we going to do?"

Shinji knew they weren't in any condition to fight, and any attempt to do so would lead to a quick and most likely sad looking defeat. "Hachigan." He sighed, "Don't take it down just yet. Can you make the barrier clear and cancel out the soundproofing?" After receiving a quick nod Shinji picked up Sakanade and began to make for the door. Before he made it through he looked back to the group of confused half-hollows, "Lets go see what they want."

Before any of them could argue, Shinji lifted the door high enough to slink through before quickly dropping it to hide themselves once more as Hachi worked his magic enough that the barrier turned a nearly transparent shade of orange.

"You rang Head Captain?" Shinji threw up a calm and collected smile, stretching out in a Cheshire Cat like manner as he leaned against the outside of the warehouse, his drawl deceptively lazy and relaxed to cover up the screaming going on inside of his head. The rest of the Visored, sans Hiyori, made their way out, some leaning against the wall of the warehouse for support while Mashiro immediately plopped down on the ground rubbing one of her sore bruises as it ached, too tired to stand.

They sure had to be some sight, looking like they had gotten hit by a couple trains and then gone out to get some 'tasteful' sleepwear. Behold the horrifying hollowed captains and lieutenants of years past, beware their bed head and taste in sleepwear as they trudge towards you.

"You all go by the title of…Visoreds now, correct?" The old man had one eye open and was watching all of them with a careful gaze.

In response to the question, in an almost synchronized manner, they all materialized their masks, lazily gazing at the group of soul reapers. Shinji pulled his off and threw it through the barrier where the double mouthed mask landed with a clatter at the feet of the head captain, Pharaoh's two mouths seeming to both smile and frown at the gathering of soul reapers at the same time.

"We thought calling ourselves the Masks or something like that would sound silly. Love heard the term 'Visored' while we were traveling through the United States a few decades ago and it seemed to be perfect for us, granted we're a pretty small army." As the rest threw off their masks Shinji and the other former captains moved to the forefront of the group, blocking Hachi and the girls from the immediate threat of the high level forces of the soul society. "Does it matter what you call us? We know what's coming." Shinji let out a little shrug as he shifted Sakanade into better position to be drawn. "Its old news now and days, and we ain't going down as easily as you want and we ain't gonna let Mayuri take us apart that easily."

"We aren't going to let you do this to us without a fight, especially since we never even got a chance last time." Kensei growled as he spun his knife between his fingers.

Before Love, Rose, or Shinji had the chance to even draw their swords every soul reaper before them dropped to their knees in a low bow. For once in their lives, the Visored were speechless, Kensei pausing in his knife spinning, the blade flying out of his hand, narrowly missing Mashiro who didn't even seem to notice the danger as they all stared forward.

"We offer our greatest thanks to the eight of you, and our humblest of apologies. A great injustice was done to all of you and we chose to act upon fear and hate rather than recognize the friends we had behind the masks that were forced onto each of you." Yamamoto spoke quietly as he too settled into a deep bow. "You are correct. We never gave you a chance. We chased you from your home and hunted you as if you were animals and despite all we did, even if it wasn't for the sake of the Guard or the Soul Society, you all came and helped us." Motioning to the other captains and lieutenants, "you fought side by side with those who were your enemies, proving to us that not only were you stronger than before in your power and abilities but you were strong enough to look beyond your hate to defend Karakura Town.

"We ask that you allow us to attempt to start to right our wrongs, something that perhaps we will never be able to fully do."

Shinji's jaw was dropped, along with everyone else's.

"Soooo," Mashiro stood up and poked her head up from over Kensei's shoulder, her one good eye confused, "you're not going to execute us for being monsters created unwillingly from the experiments of madman and his two followers?"

"Considering that we came here to help in whatever ways we could, I say that its likely that you will continue to live." Unohana's kind voice began to relax the Visored. "If you would allow us, we would like to start by tending to your wounds and helping you all begin to recover from your ordeal."

There was a pregnant pause.

Yamamoto watched as the Visored began to share looks amongst each other, silently having a conversation. Much like an injured animal they were wary in accepting help from a potentially harmful source. The hand they were offering to the small group of exiles had reached out and harmed them many times before, so why should it be different now?

Hachi snapped his fingers and instantly a sound proofing barrier returned, blocking out the sounds of the Visored as they turned to one another to discuss.

"This could be a ploy to get us to relax and then they take us down." Kensei glared over his shoulder at their old coworkers as he pulled Mashiro away from the edge of the barrier and flush against his chest.

"But Unohana said they want to help." Mashiro whispered.

"They did help us heal Hiyori in the field." Lisa had turned to peer through one of the windows near them to see Hiyori just as they left her. "She would have died without Unohana and they do owe us, and not just for kicking us out. We helped get rid of the last three Espada and killed all those Gillians. They owe us their lives."

"True," Love looked over the crowd. "They look nervous but not one of them has attacked us yet."

"Perhaps peace is what we need." Rose looked a little hopeful, "We could possibly allow them entry."

"I still don't like it. Not only do they have a bad track record with us but with our luck Hiyori will wake up the second they walk through the door and unleash hell." Kensei was firmly stuck in his ways.

Shinji had been silent the entire time, lazily gazing at each of their 'allies', trying to determine any ulterior motives. So far it seemed like they could possibly be trusted. After all Kisuke brought them all the way out here just so they could apologize, not to mention the fact that all the current members of the Captain class were here and in the same area without destroying the vicinity had to mean something.

To those outside it looked like a very tense conversation made up of growling words and a number of interesting hand gestures. After what seemed like a century of waiting, the Visoreds went still and nodded in agreement.

After what seemed like another lifetime they all turned to Hachigan, who with hands as steady as he could keep them, made a few swift gestures and the barrier began to glow as it turned to a golden dust.

"Make any wrong moves and we won't hesitate to act like the monsters you thought us to be." Shinji's warning made the Soul Reapers pause briefly as Love raised the large garage door. "Welcome to the current Casa del los Visoreds. Make yourselves at home."


	2. She's slipping through our fingers

Lisa was starting to get worried.

She wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed, but Rose had been acting weird all week, and the current moment had her worrying for his state of mind. While the rest of the group was off doing their usual nightly activities Rose was, strangely, not off tuning and cleaning his instruments before bed like he usually did each night before retiring to his room.

Peering through the door to the kitchen Lisa sighed as she looked at him. He was sitting at the kitchen table, switching from being hunched over a number of pictures to looking at the freezer door and letting out a series of dramatic sighs and moans. It wasn't too strange that he would go into weird melancholic moods for days at a time, but it wasn't his usual set of dramatics that had him artistically flopping over couches and spouting poetry. Sometimes he would get in moods like his current one, but usually if he did he would seek her or someone else to talk to so he could sort through his emotions. For the past few days he had been secluding himself and when he was with the group he was constantly getting lost in his own head.

Pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance, she walked into the kitchen at the most recent of his dramatic sighs, shutting the door to the kitchen behind her as she plopped down at the table.

"Spill."

"Spill what?" His voice sounded the 'normal person' type of hollow as he pulled his head out of where it had been hunched down in his arms.

"Perhaps the reason you've been so spacey and isolated? Or perhaps the reason why you're in the kitchen drinking tea by yourself while looking at pictures and the fridge while listening to sad musical songs on repeat?"

"Meryl Streep understands me." He made to pillow his head back in his arms, snapping back up as Lisa flicked him in the forehead. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"You're weirding everyone out and you only get this weird when you're trying to work around a problem in your head." She reached out and patted one of his hands. "You can either tell me now or I can send in one of the more socially inept Vizards to talk to you."

"I'll talk, but… it's hard to talk about and weird."

Lisa raised one of her eyebrows, "Weirder than that summer of '67 that we all agreed to never speak of again?"

"Not quite, but also yes?" He put his face in his hands and sighed. "You're gonna think I'm being stupid."

"Too late for that."

"Hardy-har Lisa." He glared at her before turning his gaze to the ceiling. "Is anyone else in earshot of us?" At the shake of her head he continued, "Hiyori hit her head on the fridge door."

"You mean at breakfast on Monday?" Lisa was truly beginning to believe her other half was getting dumber with each year. "Hachi said she was fine, no concussions or anything if that's what you're worried about." The little turd had been grouchy after Kensei slammed the door into her head, a bag of peas pressed to her forehead while Shinji and Hachi fussed over her.

"It's not that!" He slammed his head into the table. "You remember when we all got this house in the rebuilding after the war and how we had to buy the step stool because she was too little to get into the freezer? How she was able to walk right under the door when it was open?" At her slow nod he threw his arms in the air, "Lisa! Kensei opened the door and it cracked her right in the forehead! She got taller!"

Now that Lisa thought about it, Hiyori's track pants were looking a tad shorter on her than usual, even the uniform she wore to teach looked a little tighter if she really thought about it. Before she could reply to his questions he kept going.

"Lisa, Hiyori hasn't aged a day in the nearly 2 centuries we've known her, and we became Vizards before she could hit her growth spurt and stopped aging. She's always been tiny and caught in the beginning of puberty, and now—" he made to rub his temples. "I don't know when it started, but she's growing up."

"Well, if you didn't know, people tend to do that." He glared at her comment.

"We haven't aged since hollowfication, maybe we got an inch and our hair got longer, but Hiyori never did any of that. She's always stayed the same when the rest of us changed! I just assumed that… she'd be our baby sister forever." Another dramatic sigh and he was reaching for his mug of tea.

"Remember earlier this week when you and Mashiro went out and it was just her and the guys here?" Before she could reply he reached out to fix her a mug of tea, "Well, guess what day it was for her?"

Memory flitted back and Lisa paused before she could drink the warm brew, "She got her first period on Wednesday." She had come home to find the boys all worried and Hiyori locked in her room. She managed to get the story out of Shinji and had popped the lock on her door and talked with Hiyori for the rest of the night.

He snorted softly, "She didn't know where to look for your and Mashiro's products in your rooms so she had to come downstairs and ask us for help. I don't think I've ever seen her that embarrassed, not even when you forced her to start wearing actual bras." He traced a finger around the rim of his glass. "Pale as a ghost and looked like she was going to cry her eyes out at any moment. When I went to hug her after we found the stuff she ducked out of my arms and locked herself in her room and blasted music until you two came home."

"You're upset she's going through puberty?" This was weird even for Rose's usual dramatics. "It was going to happen at some point Rose, it did for everyone else."

"I know!" He paused to take a deep gulp of tea, not-so-gently placing the cup back onto the saucer. "It's just…she's gonna change."

This was going nowhere, "Then we'll buy more pads and get her new clothes, it's not a big deal."

"Not just physically changing!" He fingered the corner of a picture of him and Hiyori at a festival, both in Kimono. She had been glittering that day, wearing that furisode and smiling as they hugged in front of the food booth while the sun set in the background. "You remember how most people change during puberty, she's gonna change too! Maybe she'll mellow out or get even angrier! But what if she starts thinking differently?" His hands began to tangle into his messy waves. "What if she suddenly breaks up with Shinji and decides to go after a guy we can't easily beat up? What if she starts wanting to go back to the front lines? Oh gods, what if she gets larger breasts and has to change her entire fighting style?"

"Lets calm down," Lisa scooted her chair over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "We can deal with what comes, we've dealt with all those tantrums and wild mood swings, what's a few fueled by raging hormones?"

His voice was nearly silent, so quiet that even her sensitive Vizard hearing couldn't pick up what he had said. "Come again?"

"What if we're not there?" He croaked it out as he pushed her arms off of his shoulders and pulled her into his lap, tightly wrapping her in a hug, "What if she's like us, when she hits that stage that she's gonna decide that she doesn't want or need us anymore? What if she moves out and starts to drift away?" He pushed her head into the crook of his neck. "She'll grow into a beautiful young woman but she won't be at home, she'll be off living a life away from all of us! We all ran from home, straight to the Seireitei, who's to say that she won't run off somewhere away from us? She can reach the fridge without using a step stool now! Her entire world just opened up!

"I look at her, and there's so much that I want to do with her before she decides that she wants to go out on her own." He gestured to the various pictures of her and the other Vizards spread out on the table. "I want more moments like those. I want to wake up knowing that she'll be sitting half awake at the table in the morning and that we'll talk over coffee, waiting for the rest of you to get out of bed. I want her to still love spending friday nights watching terrible movies and eating popcorn til we feel sick. I want her to still come to me with her problems and talk them out with me while she practices on the piano." Tears began to fall. "And it's not just me. What if she doesn't want to hang out with Love like she always does or decides that Hachi and Mashiro are 'bad for her rep'? What if she starts trying other…things…with Shinji?"

"Rose." Lisa hugged him tighter. It was scary, thinking that the little turd could suddenly wake up a woman and one day leave them. Lisa couldn't remember a day in the past few centuries that she hadn't spoken to or spent time with Hiyori. She and Nanao were the little sisters she never had, and Hiyori may had been small but she was Lisa's rock. If it wasn't for her, they all never would have beaten their hollows and had solved many of their problems. It hadn't hit her when she had spent time on wednesday talking about what to do about her monthly, but Hiyori was indeed getting older and would one day grow into a beautiful woman.

"I want her to stay. I hated being a dimension away from you guys for all those years, and now we're finally all settled in and happy again! I can't lose her."

Lisa for once didn't know what to say. The baby was growing up. Soon she wouldn't be easily pulled into hugs and laps, she'd grow distant and just like everyone she knew she'd probably end up just like them. Sure Hiyori was very much so a grown woman in her age and mentally, but the rest of her still had to catch up to that. Hiyori had a hard enough time coming to term with her emotions towards dating a boy, Lisa couldn't imagine having to help her work through all those teenager leveled emotions.

"We'll…." What was there to say? That it would be okay?

"We'll find a way to work through it. For now she's ours and we'll make sure she remembers that." He nodded into her neck, warm tears falling gently onto her skin as she pulled him closer and tried to hold back those raging emotions in her heart.

"We're just gonna have to try our best."

That would have to do for now


	3. Somethings you just know

Love hadn't been in this world very long, but as he sat there in that hallway, he knew he would never see anything as beautiful as the girl who stood before him.

It had been a normal morning at the academy, and in his rush to get to his kido class early, Love had been mid-flashstep when a girl stepped into the hallway. Before he could stop himself he crashed into her, spilling books and papers all across the hallway.

"Aw shit." He could feel an embarrassed flush spread across his face as he saw that the girl was groaning as she tried to pull herself off the ground, one hand rubbing at her shoulder. "I am so sorry, here, lemme grab yer things." He began to scramble around, sorting out the odds and ends.

"No, no." She sounded out of breath as she too began to move about. "I should have been paying better attention, you'd think I was a first year with how lost I get in these halls."

He paused as one of her hands landed on his, eyes wide as he turned to look at her, breath catching in his chest.

Skin the color of sweet hot chocolate, his eyes were drawn up that slender arm to a dancer's lithe body to the most beautiful face he had ever seen. Full lips painted a delicate pink, a smattering of freckles across her cheeks, and wide honey colored eyes framed by a series of of unruly curls.

His jaw couldn't help but drop as he took her in.

"Are you okay hun?" That beautiful face drew closer to his own as it shifted into a look of confusion.

"It's not hun. My name is Love, Love Aikawa." Finally he had found his lost ability to speak.

That beautiful face made the most wonderful smile he had ever seen as he pulled himself to his feet, abandoning his belongings on the ground.

"Well ain't that something." She giggled and took his outstretched hand, soft skin against calloused, "It's pretty rare that I get to meet someone with a name like mine." At his raised eyebrow she let out another laugh, "My first name isn't japanese, its Darling."

A wide smile stretched across his face, "Darling." He liked the way it rolled off his tongue, "Don't think I've ever heard such a lovely name."

"I'm not surprised, I don't usually speak up that much in class."

"Funny, I'm losing my edge." At her questioning look he flashed her a suave smile, "I would have thought I would remembered ever meeting someone as amazing as you are."

"Well, Mr. Aikawa, we've only known each other two minutes and you've already deemed me amazing?" She lightly shoved his shoulder, another laugh bubbling out of her. What he wouldn't give to hear that laugh forever.

"Somethings you just know right away."

In the end, they were both late for class, but no one seemed to notice how the two of them walked in, hand in hand.

—

"Ya know, I've been thinking about us." Love froze at the sound of Darling's voice outside the door to the barracks of the men's side of the 7th division.

"What about us, Darl?" To his surprise, the use of her nickname failed to cause a smile to bloom across her face. She slipped through the door and plopped down onto his bed, slumping over, head resting in hands and elbows resting on knees. "Everything alright?"

"We've been dating for awhile, haven't we hun?" She rested her head on his shoulder the moment he sat down next to her, his arm moving to wrap around her shoulders. "I mean, we've been together since we bumped into each other in our second years." Her hand easily slid into his own. "Now we're both finally here, working the jobs we've always wanted…" she groaned and fell into his lap, face pillowed into his thigh as he moved his hand from her own to start rubbing her back.

"I look forward to being a fellow grunt with you." He smiled as she cooed when he started rubbing at a knot in her lower back. "We're finally free from all the academy rules about relationships and we've got nowhere to go but up."

"Up? Love, hunny bug, we just joined up." She rolled over to look at him. "Maybe before we start planning out promotions….we should think about other things."

"I don't know babe. The idea of me in a haori and you in that lieutenants badge is a pretty sweet sight in my mind." He admired the way her nose scrunched up in frustration. "It could also go the other way around, I'm not picky."

"Be serious you big dork." She lightly punched him in the stomach. "I'm talking about something between us that doesn't involve our ability to climb the ranks." She pulled herself up onto her elbows, "I love you."

"And I love you." He pulled her up so she was straddling his lap. "There's no one that I'd rather spend my time with. Yer my soulmate Darl."

"Are we ever gonna be more than boyfriend and girlfriend though?" She placed a hand on each of his cheeks. "You know me Love, I'm not gonna just sit and be the pretty girl at your side. One of the reasons I love you is because you don't treat me like some doll or prize you can win, ya love me for me. But I have to wonder," she pressed her forehead to his and closed her eyes, "are we ever gonna be something more?" He froze as a tear slid down her cheek, "Is it wrong that I'm looking to ask to be your wife?"

"Darl, you silly, impatient woman." Love shook his head as he softly pushed her away his face and out of his lap.

"Love? What are ya doing?" She called out to him as he reached into his small closet and pulled out a tiny box as he sighed.

"I was gonna plan out the perfect evening," he plopped down next to her, "I was gonna get us off work early and take you out on the town, show you off to all the jealous guys and make ya feel like the most beloved thing in the world as I took ya to our favorite restaurant, the one that knows how to make that weird bowl thing you really like." At her smile he stood again. "I was gonna tell you a million reasons as to why I love you so much and then..."

She gasped as he lowered himself on one knee, "You and I were so impatient to meet that we nearly killed one another in that hallway, but you and me Darl," he popped open the box to show a simple diamond glittering on a plain band with a matching gold necklace, "I know it ain't much, I'd buy you all the jewels and treasures of the world if I could, but I saved every coin I could to get ya this. I got both a ring and a necklace since I know you worry about wearing things like rings because you damage them too easily, so I got the chain so you could wear it around your neck."

At this point she had begun to cry, hands covering her mouth to keep the sobs from getting too loud, "What I mean to ask you now, since you were so impatient, is if you will marry—"

"YES!" She threw herself into his arms and knocked him over, smothering him with little kisses. She pulled back up to allow him to put the necklace on her her. Love couldn't stop the giant grin from growing on his face as she cradled that little ring in her hands.

"Oh my gods hun, we're gonna get married!" She paused and looked back at him, "Hun, how we gonna plan a wedding and do our jobs at the same time?"

"Well," he pulled her close, "now don't think I'm a cheapskate but since we're not the types to have big celebrations or go all out, maybe we could go to the captain and ask him to officiate? It ain't all that uncommon for most people to go and ask their captain to officiate over their ceremonies, even if we maybe just want to do something small."

"Hmmm." She traced a hand along his collar bone, "That sounds nice. No need for anything too big. We sign our contract, go get a nice dinner, and spend some time," she leaned in close, breath warm against his ear, "breaking in our new couples quarters?"

"I like the way you're thinking Darl." He pressed a kiss to her nose, surprising her as he gathered her in his arms in a bridal carry and made for the door, "Let's go find the captain and get this party started."

—

"Hmmmm." Love was awoken from his light doze as Darling shifted against him, her hair tickling his bare chest.

"How you doing?" Running a hand down her back, he pulled the blanket tighter around the two of them, taking a brief moment to admire their new, larger living space.

"Who would have thought it would be so exhausting to christen every room in our new quarters?" She brought her arms up and propped herself up on his elbows on his chest.

"I don't know Darl, seems like we managed to do it in a timely manner, besides they combined our two quarters for our promotion." He gestured to where a door had been added between the lieutenants and captain's quarters in the seventh division.

"Hmmm, I still can't believe we made it!" She let out laugh as she dropped from her position to tightly hug him. "Just like you always said, 'One day we'll make it to the top of the seventh and live happily ever after!' and now we're here!"

"That promotion ceremony and party sure were something." He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, "I thought you were gonna explode when they told ya you were gonna be my lieutenant."

She lightly punched his chest, "Well it confirmed to me that not all the lieutenants are as crazy as some we've met. It was nice, but not as good as how you look in that haori." She purred as she recalled the memory.

"A good part of my night was wondering if you were going to jump me in front of all of those people." He laughed at her happy expression.

"It ain't my fault you were made to wear that haori, it hits all the right parts of ya." She sat up, knocking the blanket off of the two of them, "Speaking of all those parts, I can't quite recall if we christened the kitchen on the captain's side." She stood up, moonlight hitting her ever so perfectly, "What do you think we should do, Captain?"

Throwing of what of the blanket remained on his legs, he grinned at her, "Well, we should make sure to cover all of our bases, Lieutenant."

—

Love couldn't stop staring at the paper in his hands as he sat in fourth division, Darling vibrating in place beside him.

"You really mean—?" A simple nod from Unohana confirmed it for him as Darling's squeal deafened him.

"Oh hunny!" Darl wrapped her arms around his shoulders, tears falling down her face, "It's finally happening! We're getting all of our dreams! True love, good jobs, and now we're gonna be having a family!"

Due to the high concentrations of spiritual pressure in their bodies, it was rare for a female soul reaper to get pregnant, the chances even smaller for a woman in the captain class level, so it wasn't surprising that it took nearly 16 years for them to conceive a child.

Smiling at the happy couple, Unohana spoke. "From what we know from the testing, she's roughly two months along with your child, so in about seven months we should be expecting your first child and for you two to get your family."

"Oh Love!" Darling was overjoyed as she clung to him, "I've always wanted a family!" She pulled away and gripped his chin to look him right in the eyes, "Love Aikawa, I swear to you that we ain't doing this small family shit. We are having as many kids as my baby oven can give us, and they will grow up beloved by all because they'll have my charm and looks."

"What are they getting from me then?"

"Eh, we can hope they get your height."

Laughing, he pulled her into a tight hug, "Whatever you want Darl, you know I can't ever say no to you."

Retsu quietly left the private room to allow the happy couple to continue to celebrate, a small prayer for a healthy child and easy pregnancy going out for them.

"That child will never know what it's like to be unloved." She sighed and turned to where Seinosuke stood waiting for her, "Off to our next assignment."

—-

"It was supposed to just be us coming in to check about the cough she picked up." Love sat with his head in his hands as he sat beside Darling's bedside, Unohana's hand gentle as she patted his shoulder.

"There's no way you could have known she was sick." Retsu's kind words did nothing to dull the pain as he watched Darling slowly breathe as she lay there on the cot, one hand on her baby bump.

Just a few days ago they were laughing as they went to a shop in the Rukon to pick up the tiny kimonos they had ordered, cooing over how adorable their baby would look wearing the tiny captain's haori the shopkeeper had given them as a gift.

"I should have known." A day or so after her morning sickness began to get so bad that she couldn't hold anything down and and that afternoon she had come down with a bad fever and a cough that wouldn't stop.

"Hun, these sort of things just happen." Her voice was soft and breathy as she weakly squeezed his hand, "Even big and tough soul reapers get sick." His stomach twisted as she gave a hacking cough, blood speckling the sheets and her lips.

One hand firmly squeezing hers, he turned to Unohana, "Please tell me that there's something you can do to help her."

The other healers shifted uncomfortably as their captain sighed, "This is a relatively new sickness, we don't even know how she caught it. It's appeared in an equal number of soul reapers as it has people in the Rukongai, and very few have recovered from it, majority of them being very young children."

"How long do I have?" Darling had tears running down her cheeks, "If ya can't save me, then maybe we give the little one a little more time to cook," she rubbed a hand against her swollen middle, six months pregnant, "I want to give them some more time so they can—"

"Even if the child wasn't affected by the sickness, most people in your stage only have a few more days, not months or weeks." Darling's hand slipped from Love's to join her other on her middle. "The child would be too premature to survive with what materials we have available."

"Oh gods!" Darling began to sob, little coughs getting in between her choked crying.

"There's nothing you can do?" Love was barely feeling anything at the moment, his voice hollow.

"All we can do it try to make it as painless as possible for your family." Unohana knelt down to be at eye level with the two of them. "I don't mean to hurt you two by telling you these things but it would be worse for me to lie to the two of you."

Love faintly heard Unohana leave to go get medicine to soothe Darling's cough. How painless could it be to be told that not only was he losing the love of his lifetimes, but that their unborn child would never have a chance?

"Love, hunny…" he turned to see Darling's face covered in tears, "I'm so sorry hunny." She began to stutter and try to form another apology but there was no need.

Wordlessly he slid into her bed and held her as tight as possible, failing to hold back the tears as she wailed into his chest.

—-

Sitting at the bar, Love ignored the quiet murmurs of the lower ranks officers around him, choosing instead to continue to drink on his own.

It had been a month since Darling and their unborn child's funeral, and once again he was wandering around instead of going back to his quarters. It was easier to sleep in an unfamiliar bed than to go to the one he shared with her and see the various baby supplies all around the rooms, a half built crib still in the corner of their living room. Just 6 weeks ago he and Darl were ditching paperwork to the third seat to go out and think of baby names and make promises for all the things they would do in the future

'We were going to be so happy' he motioned for the barkeep to refill his drink, stopping him before he moved on, "Leave the flask.".

Before he could continue his melancholy solo drinking, a certain blonde slipped into the seat next to him.

"I'll have a cheaper version of whatever he's having." Belatedly Love realized that this was the kid who had seen with the newbie captain, Muguruma, and been rumored to had been going for his Bankai.

"Shinji!" Speak of the devil, the grey haired captain appeared on Shinji's other side, "Stop being such an idiot, can't you see that he wants to be alone!"

"I'm just here to get a drink, don't get your fundoshi in a twist." Turning away from Muguruma, Shinji smiled at Love. "Sorry about the interruption Captain Aikawa, the bar's kinda full and I could only see one place to step in to get the keep's attention."

This kid was...strange to say the least, and for quite a few reasons Love couldn't put his finger on, but before he could reply, the barkeep placed the flask in front of Shinji and Muguruma grabbed the flask and the smaller man by the shoulder.

"Okay Shinji, you got your alcohol, you should go back to the table, Lisa and Mashiro are probably going to get bored and cause property damage without you." Turning to Love he pulled the complaining blonde into a headlock, "I'm so sorry Aikawa, this one's an idiot and can't tell when he's not wanted."

"Party pooper." Shinji stuck out his tongue at Murguruma and looked to Love, "He's had the largest stick shoved up his ass as long as I've known him, probably was a tree they planted there at birth."

It was hard to fight the smile that threatened to climb onto Love's face as he watched the two pause to bicker. "Seems like you have a good friend there Muguruma."

"More like I ran into him a few decades back and he won't stop following me around."

"You say the same thing about Mash."

A small laugh came out, the first since he had gotten the news that he was going to lose Darling.

"Sir, I know you were planning on mourn-drinking the night away," Shinji ignored the frantic shushing of Kensei, shooing him away with a single hand, "but our humble gathering would be overjoyed if you would take the time to join us for the rest of our night on the town."

As much as that part of him that felt like he was bleeding inside told him to stay where he was and continue to drown those hard to classify emotions in alcohol, a little voice that sounded like Darl told him 'Hun, you shouldn't be off drinking alone for the rest of your days, go out with those kids and have fun.'

Picking up the cup and flask, he turned to the two angrily bickering men, "You know what, I'll take you up on your offer, bout time I stop drowning my sorrows on my own."

"That sounds like a fine idea sir!" Shinji's Cheshire smile was almost glowing as he pointed the way to their table.

"Kid, if you're gonna drink with me, drop the 'Sir' stuff. It's Love."

Stretching up to throw an arm around Love's shoulder, Shinji aimed that smile at Muguruma, "Come on Kensei! Wipe that dazed expression off yer face before Mashiro starts to throw things in yer open mouth. We're gonna paint the town tonight!"

—-

Ten years later, about four after Shinji got promoted to a captain, Love came to a realization.

It had taken a few years, but the void Darling had left had slowly been filled by Hirako and his ability to acquire friends. After they had helped him clear the house of all those bad memories, putting all the baby stuff in storage, they had started to fill up all those empty spaces.

Tables where Darling used to get bouquets of daisies were filled with pictures from his misadventures with his friends and little other little trinkets. The corner where the crib had been in the main room was now a large shrine dedicated to Darling and their lost child, a large picture of her smiling being the most notable object on the table.

Lonely nights spent drinking alone were filled with schedules of going out for seemingly random parties and activities, people filling his quarters when they would come over to set up games and meals.

It was about a year after he joined Hirako's little clique that he finally found the nerve to be able to go visit Darling's gravestone, finding himself bringing her flowers and spending time talking to her memory and about the people he wished she could have gotten to meet.

Sure Shinji was confusing, Kensei was a bit of a hardass, Mashiro was flighty, Lisa promiscuous, Rose dramatic, Hachi an absolute mystery as to how he got that tall, and Hiyori being an absolute turd of a kid, they were also sweet and kind in their own special ways and he couldn't deny how he got that happy feeling whenever he got to see them.

Life...was getting better.

"Still love ya Darl." He pressed a kiss to his fingertips and touched it to the photo before turning to address the shouting going on his kitchen, laughter ringing out.

—

"How did you know?" Love looked up from his reading to find Lisa slumping into the seat next to him at their kitchen table, a rare moment in which she, among others, would leave their usual slump spots.

After nearly 7 years, two of which they were locked away in their inner worlds, their small grouping of exiles were no closer to clearing their names or reclaiming the purity of the souls, despite Kisuke's numerous attempts to use his magic orb thing to undo their hollowfication.

Out of all of the hybrids, Love figured he had is the easiest since all the people outside of his division that mattered most came along with him whereas Lisa and some of the others were fully alone. At least Hachi, Hiyori and Mashiro still had their captains, but some like Lisa were longing for others who were too far out of their reach.

Closing the book, he took in her mussed hair and questioning eyes and sighed, "How did I know what?"

Glancing to make sure no one else was listening, the only other people in the room being Hiyori and Kisuke, who were bent over a mess of papers and mumbling together about Kido and something about the 'mental matrix', Lisa took a deep breath.

"Darling. How did you know she was 'the one'?" She made finger quotations as she spoke. "I didn't know you well back then but I did occasionally see you with her and…" She looked down at her hands, "I didn't think it was possible for two people to look so happy and content, and when she was gone...you swore you wouldn't ever love anyone else, that you'd wait to find her again." Eyes narrowing, she clenched her hands into fists before relaxing again. "How the hell did you do it?"

For the first time in a long time, a laugh bubbled up and out of him, Lisa's glare deepened and he held up his hands in defense. "I'm not laughing at ya, its your question."

Hand going up to rest where her name was inked right above his heart, he smiled, "Darl and I met by colliding into one another in a hallway and from the moment I first saw her smile," he could almost see it, "I just knew."

"You just knew?" She groaned as she rubbed her temples in frustration. "That's how you got one of the greatest love stories of the Soul Society? Thats—"

"Not everything." Love leaned back against the corner where he was reading, "I didn't just meet her and marry her right off the bat, hell it took me nearly 3 months just to ask her out on a date!

"It's not all magic and getting lost in one another's eyes, ya gotta get to know the person. You'll know it's right when you find yourself suddenly realizing how full this person makes your life, that your life gets so much better when you hear that little laugh or eat their terrible attempts at foreign food, that somehow you've found this person who loves you despite all your faults and the mistakes you make. It's the moments where the two of you are exhausted and sweaty and you honestly could care less when she lays on ya. When you could just sit on the porch, both doing yer own thing and not speaking. Things like that are when ya know."

Sighing, Lisa pulled her hands away from her face. "So really, it's just 'something you just know'?"

Chuckling, he picked up his book again, "One day you'll understand."

6 months after the end of the winter war.

"You planning on going alone?." Shinji ignored the annoyed look on Hiyori's face as he continually pushed the wheelchair she was in back and forth, back and forth.

"I think I should at least visit her on my own after spending the last century running around with my friends." Reaching down to muss up Hiyori's pigtails he used his other hand to pick up on of the many bouquets of flowers out of her lap. "You guys go check on Kensei and Mash, they're off visiting the men the lost that night and you know how torn up they get about it."

After waiting to make sure they were out of range, Love began to walk through the graveyard for lieutenants, stopping at an old but familiar polished stone, her name carved into the marble with a smaller plinth beside it for the unborn child.

Placing the flowers at the base, Love settled down into a comfortable position, running his fingers across her name.

"Sorry I haven't been here in awhile Darl, it's a long and complicated story. I hope you didn't miss me as much as I missed you."


	4. What Kido Can Do

Kido is most commonly thought of as a series of demon arts used by soul reapers to further their battle prowess and better kill hollows, but Kido can do so much more

What can Kido do you ask?

Kido can be an escape from an expectation to be a great and fearless brute of the battlefield, for whatever else would one use such a greatly sized body for?

It can reach out from an old bookshelf to call out to a lonely person who can't quite fit in no matter where he goes and longs for somewhere or something to call his own.

It can open doors for someone who isn't very fond of the art of using a blade, but still wishes to do the same good as someone who is.

It can make weight fall off of one's shoulders in the span of a few syllables and hand gestures, it can make you something more than the younger brother of the gate guardian of the west.

It can lead you to a place where people feel the same as you do about what you love, that the moment you walk in, that you no longer feel as much of an outsider as you did before you came in.

It can be drawn and inked onto one's being, secret spells and backups imprinted on the body and twisted deep into the soul's very core, ever present and a physical reminder of all that you've overcome and have done to get where you are.

It can lead you to meet strangers who happen to be quite interesting, including a new captain who happens to very easily make friends with unlikely people just as they begin to walk to the brink of greatness.

It can be the shield that you hold up, that you don't have to swing your sword to help protect someone, that supporting someone is just as powerful as fighting directly beside them.

It can be a dangerous weapon, powerful and strange, that can if done incorrectly can recoil back at whoever attempted it and those who surround them, turning your own work against yourself.

It can be the restricting chains, wrapping about what seems to be friends wearing the faces of your enemies, desperate attempts to hold them back and from hurting anyone else, including themselves.

It can fail you in a moment of confusion and need.

It can easily decide you are no longer worthy.

It can take back the love you poured into it over the years when you awake as someone not quite yourself, new power turning the gentle flow of your former abilities that you perfected over the years into a raging geyser of power, never seeming to ever run of of energy or lessen in force. Your flow is incorrect and even the simplest of Kido's gift can explode in your face.

It can become a memory of something you were once great at, making one feel as if they have truly passed their prime and ought to give in.

But then again

Kido can be reborn and reformed, taking old spells that have passed their time and creating new and greater pieces of work, ones that flow with greater ease and have greater chances to do good.

It can be the walls that build your new home, wrapping tight around people who are more than your old comrades, tucking them away from the elements as you all make your way towards something greater.

It can be the healer's hand, knitting together worn, tired flesh and spirit that longs for both to get revenge against those who took it all away and to once more find a purpose in life.

It can be something new, that the old spells that have always been used for so long and never questioned or changed can be added onto and greater than before, the knowledge of your name being written into history raising you dual spirit as you make good change in the world, even if no one will ever see it.

It can be silent, no more than a few hand gestures, a great respect between caster and spell making the need to call out as before no longer needed.

It can be intertwined with that of a beast, creating a truce between the two, taking love and the lack of to make an even greater force to be wielded

It can be seen somewhere new, in the warm smile of a young woman who makes you feel just a little less alone, someone to share what you know with, to warn her not to fall in the path you wandered onto with the same intentions as she lives the story of her and the young Visored you welcomed into your small family.

It can be the one method left, when blade nor speed can reach an unstoppable enemy, building walls and reaching to work with and protect someone who could just as easily fight alongside you as she can turn on you and your loved ones in the next moment.

It can make the most painful decision painless, taking away such a necessary thing to give your comrades and fellow warriors the chance they need to make it through this battle alive, not caring about what you will lose so long as they stay safe.

But just as easily, it can fill you with the deepest regret, that you should have been able to reach out and grab her, to put a wall either in front of or behind her to protect her from that deadly blade that cut her down so easily.

It can desperately try to be as strong as it was before as you kneel in the middle of a battlefield, half of your energy dedicated to the shield you place around yourselves as the other half tries to stopper the blood and various other fluids staining the ground the deepest red and sinking into the fabric of the knees of your pants as you watch her desperately try to hold on.

It can open a door to let someone in to the little bit of safety you have, that pride and fear must be pushed aside when that old familiar face comes and saves her where you couldn't have on your own.

It can undo what was done, that familiar kido in another form returning to you what was lost.

It can be something that once again must be relearned, but isn't as much of a challenge the third time around.

It can be the snap of the fingers that breaks down the last physical barrier between who you all were and who you are now, rejoicing as it finally feels like you're no longer the monster they've always believed you to be.

Kido can do many, many things, and will continue to do such so long as there is someone who reaches out to let it take hold in their heart.


	5. Just a Little Broken

He wasn't quite sure why he had taken it, or even why he had been out that day.

Kisuke, being more fretful than usual, had been pushing for all of them to try to break out of their slumps, that they were alive and should be living life to the fullest, and just to get him to stop pestering the others about it Rose decided to take a small walk.

There had been no decided path,just a mindless amble through the small town that Kisuke had settled them into.

He honestly couldn't blame the living beings for turning away or avoiding him as he made his small journey, he knew that in the past few years that all of the Visored looked as he did. Pale, a little gaunt, and no one could mistake the look in their eyes as anything but haunted.

He could see some of the reason Kisuke had been pestering them to start going outside and actually do something besides sit inside and sulk their remaining days away as they lamented their fates. It was nice to feel the sun warm his face, the soft spring breeze tug at the loose braid he had pulled his hair into before going out, there were so many things that just felt...good, but it was dulled by the persistent reminder of what he could never be again.

The former Rose would have been constructing a melody from being out in the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, a soft smile gracing his face as his hands would itch to find something, an instrument or other object, to add his own piece into the song of the lives harmonizing around him.

Of course, that Rose died that night in Rukongai 6.

Turning away from the sounds of happy people enjoying the first days of spring, he sighed and turned to make his way back into the main business districts to go back to Kisuke's shop and return to his fellow hybrids.

He had only gone a short way when, wincing, his sharper-than-before ears caught onto the sound of a slamming door followed by someone grunting as something somewhat familiar sounding hit the wall of the alley before turning back inside.

Head slightly cocked to the side, Rose took a few steps forward, contemplating where he could recognize the sound of wood hitting stone like that when it came into sight, and what little remained of his heart twisted.

Quickening his pace, Rose knelt by the remains of a badly damaged violin case, the protective covering torn and the structuring of the case slightly broken.

No wonder he had recognized such a sound, his violin back...back there had been a very close friend since he was a child and he had missed it and all its pieces dearly.

This violin was a sad sight compared to the memory of the lovingly carved piece still hidden away in his old office.

Whoever had banged up the case hadn't taken care of the instrument either, Rose gently popped open the case to see what had been done to such a gentle instrument.

Rose had to swallow the first true emotion he had felt in a long time as he carefully lifted the poor thing from its case.

"Oh my," Rose ghosted his fingers over dents and scratches in the wood, an exacerbated crack and warping of the wood causing the F holes and body it become slightly misshapen, the strings either pulled too tight or let to hang loose, the missing fine tuner on the right side. "You've been through quite a bit, haven't you little one?"

He wasn't quite sure what possessed him to do so, but upon checking that the bow and chinrest were intact, he placed the violin in the case as best as he could before holding it close to his chest and continuing his way back to Kisuke's shop, not saying a word to anyone before dropping into the underground area beneath the shop, only pausing to grab a small toolkit.

Settling into a quiet corner, Rose reopened the case and took another look at his find.

"Cosmetically you aren't very pretty, but then again I have no room to talk." Running his fingers over the warped wood he gave the instrument a critical look. "I have to wonder, can you still sing like you used to?"

Tentatively he lifted the damaged piece, holding back a wince from how the neck was ever so slightly bent and the chinrest was off by the slightest degree, taking some of the pilfered tools and working to properly tune the instrument as best as he could, grateful for the pliers to to help him tune where the fine tuner had broken off and left only the barest bit of material to tune the old strings.

"My, my, you must have seen better days my friend." Lifting the battered instrument into proper position, he lightly drew the bow across the strings, eyes widening at this strange hollow noise it was making, unlike any wail or cry he had ever heard come from a violin before. "Seems we're not the only hollow ones around."

Drawing back to years before, he closed his eyes and imagined the sheet music before him, playing a song as familiar as the embrace of a longtime lover or the hand of an old friend, yet as beautiful as it always was, parts didn't fit. The portions leading up to the higher notes simply didn't suit the poor thing.

Sighing, he spoke as he started the melody again, "I too know what it's like to lose your ability to sing. I know quite of few people who got broken." He continued to speak as he played, changing out the soured notes for sweeter ones, as a hollowed heart was poured out to that little violin.

"I've lost a great deal of things. My position, my family, my will to write." He increased the tempo to a quicker song, starting the process over again of rewriting for this small friend of his. "Shinj suffered more than any of us, but we all tasted the bitter tang of betrayal as that man cut us down. One slash of the sword ended everything I was." Fingers pressed down harder into the strings, the sting barely noticed against hands that had lost those old calluses over the past few dark years. "I awoke changed from who I once was, chained to a rock with others looking to me to see what was left, man or monster." The bow moved faster. "I was fractured, a beast taking hold in my inner sanctuary. My music, my entire life force, extinguished like a candle attempting to weather a storm. I can't even draw my sword anymore...Kinshara."

He breathed the golden name out, eyes dropping as he slowed from his frantic playing, gently lowering the instrument to his lap. "Kinshara...they're the personification of all my best and worst traits. I can't bring myself to listen to them sing anymore, the melodies are empty, the crescendos broken. I don't know how to play again." Running a bloodied finger over the cracks, he froze as he noted the teardrop fall onto it. "I don't know how to be me, I'm broken, just like you."

Gathering the piece close to him, he closed his eyes and drew his knees up. "I don't want to be broken. I want to play and sing with Kinshara again." His forehead kissed the body of the violin. "I want to live again. We all spend our days praying that our ends will be swift and painless, waiting for a normal that will never return. I want to see my friends smile again, to see them stand proud and tall despite being...broken."

Pulling back he let out a hollow chuckle as he took in the broken body and bent neck. "Perhaps...perhaps maybe we can be."

—-

"I swear that dumb hollow turned you into a magpie or something." Rose looked up from where he had been writing music in a small journal in what had been dubbed his personal space.

Hiyori glared at the various instruments he had filled the area with. A piano missing half of its keys, a bent flute, a sitar with only a single string, and many, many more pieces he had been bringing to their little home over the past few months. "Where do you even find half of your trash?"

A smile slipped onto his face, still a strange feeling after years of blank expressions, as he closed his journey and grabbed the small handkerchief he kept handy to wipe the wet ink off of his hands. "I don't think they're trash, you know how the old saying goes, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'."

"I don't think they were talking about broken pieces of instruments people purposefully threw away since they no longer had a purpose." She looked disdainfully at the piece sitting in his lap. "They probably don't baby those things either. Only someone as dumb as you would want something all broken like that."

Her frown deepened as he looked her over, the messy blonde waves she hadn't put up mixed with the dark circles under her eyes made her look years old than she usually looked, but then again it was a popular look amongst the exiled hybrids.

"I assure you," he lightly ran his fingers along the newly lacquered wood shining in his lap. "I already fixed Shitsuren, she plays perfectly fine."

"I've heard that thing, it can hold a tune about as well as Love can, and you once said he couldn't carry one if you handed it to him in a bucket and told him to take two steps forward." Her volatile temper had lessened since Kisuke awoke her all those years ago, but she was just as broken as the rest of them, though she still blamed herself for that night.

Motioning for her to come over, he smiled "There's no one tune all must play."

Rolling eyes, she muttered about not having anything better to do and stalked over.

He truly felt for her, the poor thing had been through a lot in the past 15 years, and even before she had never been the most self confident. The past few years had been crushing, and perhaps only Shinji had been taking it harder than her.

"Would you like to play her?" She quirked up an eyebrow at his request and before she could properly retort he continued. "You said it yourself, you don't have anything better to do and I want to show you why I like these 'broken things' so much."

A few tense moments of her looking between him and the violin, she let out a small groan of annoyance. "Fine, but if I hate it I'm stopping right away."

"Yes, yes." He didn't bother to hide the smile growing on his face he moved to position her to hold the violin. "Now, Shitsuren is a gentle creature, and she needs to be held carefully."

"Because she's broken and should have been thrown out a while ago?"

Ignoring her jab, he continued, "Even something a bit broken wants to be held lovingly and allowed to sing again."

Strangely, she had gone quiet and seemed to be awaiting his next instructions. "Now she may look fragile, but she's very strong and can handle anything you throw at her, but still, be gentle and she'll tell you all the secrets of the world."

Huffing, she relaxed out of position. "Are you going to teach me to play the damn thing or not?"

Nudging her back into a proper posture, he helped guide her hands and chin to hold the violin, the other hand gently holding the bow.

Sitting back against his table he took her in before asking "Try playing a note for me? Lets see what comes naturally and what needs to be fixed."

Not at all surprisingly, a horrifying shriek leapt from the strings before he leapt back up to guide her. "Fingers dear. Not too tight, but don't let go or she'll fall."

Blowing a stray bit of bang out of her eyes, her glare lessened in the slightest. "Sounds like she's a lot of trouble."

Chuckling, he nudged her the slightest bit straighter. "I do love trouble though." Taking her bow hand, he helped her get into better position. "Hold the bow flat, like your blade, even to the strings. Pull. Pull it into yourself."

Eye twitching, he tried to keep from joining her in cringing at the sound she pulled from the strings.

"That...sounded awful."

"Every note sounds awful when it's all alone." He spoke quickly before she could back down, "Let's trying learning the different notes so we can learn how to put them together."

Letting out a little huff, she pulled herself up. "Whatever you say."

—-

Lisa paused as she and Mashiro walked into the shoten, bags filled with groceries. She was used to hearing bits and. Pieces of noise coming up from where Rose had made himself a little space in the basement, but this was different.

Peering over the counter she noticed Kisuke had left the door open. Glancing over to where Kisuke and Tessai were sitting together near it, she made to ask what was going on when the music stopped and newly sharpened ears latched onto voices down below.

"I didn't think that thing could ever sound good." That was Hiyori, but she hadn't spoken to any of them in quite some time.

Both women looked to one another before jumping down the trapdoor to where the sound was coming below, a long lost laugh coming from Rose. "It just needed some time, love, and hands that understood."

Neatly landing on the ground below, the two of them saw the rest of their hybrid grouping all gathered near the boulders near Rose's little hoard of broken instruments, peeking over to watch two of their blondes talk, freezing upon hearing a little snort come from Hiyori.

"That's stupid and emotional."

"So is music dear."

Lisa joined Love where he had climbed a bit higher to get a better view in time to see her move to glare at Rose, dropping from where she had been in position to play the violin in her grip, her bow hand moving to land on her cocked hip. "Well I hate everything that's either of those things so—"

"You're doing fine." Gently pressing a hand to her messy waves he smoothed her bangs away from her eyes. "Seems Shitsuren isn't as much of a piece of trash as you thought, huh?" Ignoring her flush, he continued on as he placed new music in from of her, "How about we try this music again? You seem to have tempo and note down and this is always a good song to play with her."

Surprisingly the brat submitted to his instruction, pulling herself up.

Before Lisa could turn to question Love about what exactly was going on, she froze as Hiyori drew up her bow and began to play.

Harsh and brash little Hiyori, who had become so tired and worn over the years, looked so calm and relaxed as she began to play. Her eyes drifted shut as she got lost in the melody.

Lisa barely noted Rose moving to his messed up piano until he began to accompany her, the smooth percussion joining the violin as they cried out together.

For a brief while Lisa and the other hybrids were lost in the sound of sweet music as Rose and Hiyori pulled what felt like an eerie lullaby, a wordless song that felt as if she were living a story of beloved life halved, the loss of sweet purity a somber tune that slowly regained it's pace, lovely light rising up again within the gentle wails as the song returned to an echoing version of what it once was.

All too quickly, the moment was lost as the song ended, each hybrid jerking up from where they had been lost in the sweet music, looking to one another after such an experience.

Brushing a tear from where it had fallen down her cheek, Lisa peered over the boulder to see the two of them taking deep breaths after playing so passionately.

Before the two of them could play again, Shinji surprised them all by softly clapping, causing the two of them to both jump as the others joined in.

"I thought you had given up on ever playing music again." Shinji pushed his long hair away from where a portion had fallen over his shoulder as he moved into the space to speak to Rose.

All the musician did was smile as he looked up from the damaged keys, gently caressing the broken ivory keys. "Though it may sing in a different tune, even a broken instrument wants to sing out once again."

Looking up, he glanced at Shinji's hands. "You're more than welcome to join, and I'm sure you and my piano, Suitoaibori, would get along quite nicely."

As the others dared to drift nearer, Rose would swear that there was nothing so beautiful as the sound of the dissonance turning to something...new and remarkably lovely.

—

Lots of Love to Imaginemeandyouforever for helping me formulate this chapter and love to all of you for reading this!

Like and Review and here's to many more chapters!

-Vizzy


	6. The Whole Truth

"State your name and former rank for the record."

Standing as straight as he could, he took a deep in before opening his eyes to look at the the sea of hidden faces before him.

"Former Captain of the 9th division, Kensei Muguruma."

—-

"Former Lieutenant Kuna Mashiro."

—

"Former Lieutenant Sarugaki Hiyori."

—

"Former Captain Tsukibishi Tessai."

—

"Former Captain Otoribashi Rojuro."

—-

"Former Lieutenant Ushoda Hachigen."

—

"Former Captain Urahara Kisuke."

—

"Former Captain Aikawa Love"

—-

"Former Captain and Commander of the Punishment force, Shihouin Yoruichi."

—-

"Former Lieutenant Yadomaru Lisa"

—-

"Former Captain Hirako Shinji." A wide smile accompanied the name, "It's nice to be back."

—-

"Captain Muguruma." Kensei had to bite back a request to have them call him anything but captain, a title he hadn't used in over 98 years, a title he hadn't spoken since he had forbidden Mashiro from ever calling him that again.

"Yes." He stared straight ahead, there was no good in trying to figure out which voice came from behind which screen.

"You and five other members of your squad," there was a shuffle of papers and Kensei's jaw tightened in building anger. "Let's see there were—"

"Lieutenant Kuna, 3rd seat Kasaki, 4th seat Eishima, 5th seat Tosen, and 6th seat Todo accompanied me to Rukon 6." He could hear the little whine Mashiro made upon hearing those names.

There was a pause before another voice spoke. "You will wait to be questioned before speaking."

"Yes sir." The words were bitter on his tongue, that someone who couldn't bother to remember those names was talking down to him. "It won't happen again."

"Moving on," a female voice sounded out from the right, "You are the first of the Visored called to stand before this gathering. You will tell us about what really happened concerning the events of May 1st, 101 years ago. Do you agree to do this?"

"Yes." Knuckles were white against the podium he stood against. "Where do you want me to begin?"

"Start from assignment and we'll move on from there."

Squaring his shoulders, Kensei looked towards the judges with a cool expression.

"The morning of I was assigned by the Head Captain to investigate the series of disappearing souls in the Rukongai. I sent out a squadron of 10 lower ranked Soul Reapers, all good men and women with good heads on their shoulders, to go look at the scenes ahead of time, before I brought in the commando squad." He resisted the urge to reach up and pinch the bridge of his nose, "It wasn't until it was noted that they were late in reporting back that we tracked their movements to the last site they checked, just outside of the woods in Rukon 6."

"So you moved out your force of 6 people?"

"Yes. We arrived in the area in time to save three children from a large hollow that appeared to have killed two others. We paused in our search to take down the hollow before preceding. I used the Shikai release of my Zanpaktou, Tachikaze." he gestured to where the sword hung on a stand among the rest of the collected evidence from that night. "Two of the boys got away easily but the third I saved from being eaten. After assuring the boy was okay I sent him on his way back to his village." A small smile dared to grow on his face. "The kid's name was Hisagi Shuhei, he was a brave little shit. Took on a hollow with a stick of all things, just to give his friends just a few more seconds to get away."

"Lieutenant Hisagi has spoke before the 46 earlier and his account confirms this." A brief memory came across of the boy with black hair and scythes who must have been the same boy as a century ago.

"Now, back to the details. What happened next?"

—

"While my...captain." She made a face at how the word just refused to sit right on her tongue. "While Kensei and the others took on the hollow I made sure that the other two kids were a safe distance away when I tripped and fell in a bush where I found a pile of clothes." Mashiro swallowed the emotions the butterflies were storming up in her belly were threatening to send flying out of her mouth.

"They were 10 squad uniforms, each bearing the insignia of the 9th on the inside on the shitagi, like all the uniforms we wear...wore." No matter how many years had passed by, she always still spoke about those days like they were happening now.

—-

"I confirmed that the uniforms Mashiro found were the same as those of the squad we sent ahead, all of whom showed the same effects of whatever was happening to all of those people who had been disappearing all over the Rukon."

"What was the response you decided upon?"

"Since it had only been a short while since the point in which the report came in late and the last report sent out we decided to make camp in the area for the night and wait to see if we could catch the criminal in the act. As a precaution I sent one of my men to go report the incident to the top brass and another to go to the 12th division to request that we have one of the scientists sent over to take a look at the area to see what was going on."

"Which lead to Sarugaki becoming involved."

Another black mark near his name.

"We didn't call upon her directly, but yes, she became involved when I ordered Todo to alert the 12th."

—

"Did Kisuke Urahara ever give you any reason to believe that on that night that you would come to any harm?"

Hiyori shifted her weight onto her right leg, the current better of her two before aiming a glare up at the faceless judges before her.

"Kisuke Urahara was the worse captain I ever had. He was a member of the 2nd prior to becoming captain of the 12th, unorganized, released a good portion of the Maggot's Nest into my supervision with little warning, decided on a spontaneous reform of the division, quadrupled my workload while also pushing a good deal of his duties onto me, nearly gave me a series of ulcers the 4th can vouch for, and a whole lot of other shit, but he never did anything to make me fear for my own safety or lead me to believe he wanted to put me in harm's way." She could hear the soft grumbling of the others behind her as she shifted to her other leg again, knowing that they were most likely debating whether or not it was still to early for her to be taking any sort of stand.

"I willingly agreed to Kisuke's decision. It was an important matter that he should have sent out only one of his top members into, that and I was one of the few members that should there had been any physical danger that I would be able to properly defend myself."

"A member of your squad said that you didn't seem happy to be going out there."

"Oh please, I was overjoyed to get away from all of them for a bit. I just thought I'd be returning to the labs on my own two feet later that night."

—-

"While Todo was off alerting the 12th we made camp for the night. I, along with Heizo and Mashiro, were taking the first rest of the night while Tosen, Eishima, and eventually Todo were taking the first watch." It was getting harder to talk, too easy to get lost in those memories. "Mashiro was asleep and a short while after Todo came back, we heard noises."

"Specify those noises."

He tried to ignore the wood splintering under his fingers as he swallowed.

"They were the sounds of combat. Grunts, a yell, and a sword hitting flesh."

"Continue." The voices were colder now, now they were getting to the 'good part'.

"I exited the tent calling for an explanation in time to see Eishima and Tosen down on the ground and Todo standing away from them. I called out to him just before he hit the ground, dead."

Another deep breath. "I yelled for Mashiro to get up right as Kasaki suddenly went down. Before I could go grab Mashiro myself I was surrounded by this darkness. I couldn't see or hear anything until I was stabbed from behind."

—

"Tosen Kaname, your 5th seat, stabbed your captain from behind?"

"Yes sirs." Mashiro longed to take off the silk gloves she was wearing and rub her sweaty palms against her skirt, wanted to ignore the bony bits that built up on her knuckles as a side effect of hollowification, but that would just add more fuel to the Freak Fire. "I awoke to the sound of Kensei shouting out for me. I grabbed my sword and ran outside of the tent just in time to see Kaname shove a sword in Kensei's back." She paused.

She would not not cry. She had promised Kensei that when they went up to the stand that she wouldn't cry about seeing her friends dead on the ground, about seeing him looking so betrayed.

It wasn't a very ladylike sniffle, but with the swipe of her sleeve she wiped away the tears that had been building up. "I screamed, but Kaname did nothing but yank his weapon out of Kensei and let him fall. I caught Kensei before he could land on the ground and demanded that Kaname tell me what was going on, why he'd murder our friends."

"Accounts say the two of you were close, that you wouldn't have any reason to suspect him of desiring to harm you or your comrades."

Swallowing harsh and wild emotions, she took a deep breath. "We were close. He was talented and very kind. He just wanted to help people back then and I made sure to help him as much as I could. Up until the higher ups finally realized that he couldn't see and needed to be sent reports in braille I would read him all of his reports and helped him with all his write ups." Another sniffle. "We used to talk forever. We were friends...I don't know what I did wrong that made him decide it was okay to turn on me and Kensei." It wasn't rage in her voice. She could faintly hear Cricket, her inner hollow, speak in unison with her. "We didn't do anything wrong, did we?"

—

"I could hear Mashiro yelling at Tosen, but something was wrong. I was so angry and confused, but I felt so sick out of nowhere. The last thing I remember is feeling like I was choking on something right as my spiritual pressure dropped out. Then it's just...darkness."

—

"Kensei started choking and white stuff came up." Mashiro swallowed away Cricket's echo. "Kaname knocked me away from him just the white stuff starting flowing out of his eyes and nose. It didn't take long for it to turn into a hollow's mask. He stood back up, his wound had stopped bleeding, and wouldn't respond to me. He started let out a roar and started to go near me when Hiyori made it into our range of spiritual pressure." Hands fisted tightly, the delicate fabric over her knuckles splitting. "Before I could stop him from running in her direction Kaname engaged me in combat to keep me from being able to go after Kensei and protect her."

—

"I had noticed it was weird when I made it into range of the camp when I could only sense Mashiro and Tosen, but it wasn't too strange, I just assumed that Kensei and the others had gone out of my range or something so I kept going inward." Hiyori froze at the movement behind her. "Rose, I swear if you bring that thing over here that you'll be the one who needs it to leave this hole."

Rolling her eyes as he sat back in his spot, wheelchair returned to its spot where they had insisted she bring it 'just in case', she leaned against the podium and blew a puff of air to get her bangs out of her eyes. "Back to my point, I kept moving inward up until I felt something off."

"Off?"

"Hollow but not hollow, like how we feel now and days but I didn't know what it was at the time. I paused to assess the area in time for Kensei to find me."

—

"I tried to hold him off, I knew that he'd take me down and then head straight for Hiyori and anyone else in the area."

—-

"I called out for him, to ask him what was going on. I knew it couldn't be a prank, Kensei hated pranks even back then, but I had no idea why he'd be tromping around the woods wearing what looked like a hollow's mask."

—-

"I released my Shikai. It was...the last time I did." She looked over to where the sword hung in a sheath above the table of evidence. "I called on my sword and fought him, but he played dirty." A dry sob started to build up in her throat. "He managed to get me into a position and cut my arm and the tendons. I dropped my zanpaktou and it reverted back to it's sealed form and…he stomped on it."

Her voice was shaky as she continued. "The metal broke and he kicked the longer portion of the blade away. If you take my sword from it's sheath you'll see that Kyatchi Ando Ririsu...it was broken just a little above the hilt." Gasps rang out around the room from the 46 and current Soul Reapers alike. Back when they had been active if your sword was broken you were as good as crippled for life. Even if she hadn't been hollowfied there was no way they would have let her continue to be a lieutenant.

"The majority of the sword was never recovered and Kisuke couldn't do much to help it. I can't even find Ririsu in my inner world anymore, just Kyatchi wandering around looking for her."

—-

"I ran as fast as I could. He wasn't responding to me or anything and I in his state I couldn't let him get any closer to the village near the woods. I ran further into the woods to try to get him away from any innocent lives, but I caught onto Mashiro's spiritual pressure and ran towards her just as I heard her scream."

"But you did not draw your blade?"

The Visored sitting behind her on the stand all flinched at the all too familiar feeling of building anger coming from the small girl. They didn't need to see her from the front to know that the managing glow of a blood red Cero building up in the back of her throat was being flashed at the central 46.

"You may see me as a monster, but I will never, ever draw my sword on a comrade unless there is no other option but death."

—-

"It was so painful." Mashiro had reached up to wrap her arms around herself. "It was worse than any broken bone or other injury I had ever gotten. I didn't even get time to grieve before he grabbed me by the arm and drove his sword into my chest." The old scar just below the ribs on her right side ached. "He pulled the blade out just as—"

—

"I managed to lose him for a moment, just in time to make it to the clearing where I felt Mashiro and see that bastard pull his sword from her chest." She could feel her nails digging bloody little crescents into her palms as she rested on her forearms at the stand. "I managed to hit him with a kido and knock him into the tree line. He didn't get up right away so I turned to check on Mashiro. She was bleeding heavily from her chest wound and some of her other injuries. My focus was on her."

—

"I was on the ground. I felt so cold, but then Hiyori-chan was there." A small smile grew as she turned to look at Hiyori. "She was there with me. She knocked him away from me and as scared as I was that she was there and was gonna get hurt, it was nice that I wasn't alone. I thought I was gonna die."

—-

"I thought she wasn't gonna make it, her wounds were too much. I didn't want her to go out alone so I stayed with her while trying to keep an eye on Tosen."

—-

"It was a such a pretty crescent moon that night." They had to think she was a maniac, softly laughing about the moment she died. "I remember I couldn't stop coughing, but she stayed with me."

—-

"She asked me about the moon of all things."

—-

"I remembered hearing about Hueco Mundo and how hollows lived under the light of a permanent moon. I wondered if in Hueco Mundo that a hollow was staring up at the same moon as me, if they were looking at the same stars." Her hands lowered from where she had been hugging herself. "Then I felt like I was running on empty, like I had no spiritual pressure, and then...nothing." She looked to the judges. "That was the last thing I remember about that night."

—-

"She just stopped talking and before I could try to keep her conscious...I realized I hadn't looked at the bastard for too long." Hiyori hissed out her frustration. "I turned just as his shadow fell across us. I didn't even have time to grab Kubikiri Orochi, he got me." She motioned to a spot on the upper left side of her rib cage. "He got me good, busted up a few of my ribs to the point where Kisuke had to replace some of them while I was out of commission."

—-

"We were all called in to a meeting at the main headquarters." Shinji stretched his arms above his head as he surveyed the room. "I was just about to leave the office for the night when the news came that Mashiro and Kensei were missing in action. I told Sousuke to watch over things over at the office while I ran off to the meeting."

—

"Before I could fight back, Kensei found me again." Deep breath in, and then out. "I was forced to leave Mashiro behind to evade him. It didn't occur to me until later that despite my injury that I seemed to be strong enough to get away. I faintly heard screaming behind me, but I had to focus on trying to get out alive to warn others before going back for her."

"But you did not draw your blade against Muguruma despite him clearly being a dangerous enemy."

Once again, the blood red light spilled from her mouth, Banshee wailing to let a Cero loose, right here right now, overwhelming as she spoke in a voice as cold as ice despite the fire building up inside of her.

"Once more, no. I was taught that there is no greater dishonor than to turn your sword on someone who either does not deserve it, or to turn your blade on a comrade with the intent to kill. I may injure and bruise others, but I never willingly will ever maim or kill. I don't hurt my friends."

—

"Shinji had gone out before the rest of us could, damn quick footed princess." Lisa ignored the indignant squawk behind her. "I, along with Lieutenant Ushoda and Captains' Otoribashi and Aikawa, were sent out as part of the investigational team after Urahara was turned down to join and my former captain managed to convince the captain of the Kido Corps, Tsukibishi, to allow me to go in his place for the experience."

—-

"We were sent out to see what had happened to the two missing members of the captain class and potentially see if Hiyori could be recovered before joining them." Rose sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "We never imagined that we would find something so horrible."

—-

"I was sent out as one of the investigational team to try to find out what happened to Kensei and Mashiro, and, even though it wasn't in our orders, to try to find Hiyori before she disappeared too." Shinji kept looking forward, knowing his usual mannerisms might make some uncomfortable.

"You were the first to arrive on the scene out of your group?"

"Yeah, I got there in the moments right before the thing that took over Kensei tried to squish the brat." He jerked a thumb to where the two of them were sitting, smiling inside at how the two of them were most likely making those familiar angry faces. "I asked her why she hadn't drawn her sword right as the clouds parted and moonlight allowed me and the others who had arrived ta see him. He let out this roar, louder than anything I ever heard, and Love made to try to go after him and—"

—-

"It was like I was fighting someone new, stronger than any hollow I'd ever seen." Love stood calmly, arms crossed. "Shinji had managed to grab Hiyori and get her out of the way so the three of us decided to try to take him down. I made to take him down with a strike from above when he got behind me and knocked me to the ground, the force of the blow tearing apart my shihaukso and Haori." He motioned to where their old uniforms, preserved by Kisuke, all were strung up on stands as evidence. What little of his old uniform remained hung sadly on its perch.

"So then—"

—

"Lisa and I decided to try to immobilize him by cutting his tendons." Rose tapped his fingers on the edge of the podium, trying to keep from letting any worry drift onto his features as he did his best to not look over at where his family were sitting in the crowd, their families having been allowed to come hear about what had happened to them. "I went first and Lisa tried to sneak up on him from behind but he caught on and knocked us in opposite directions."

—-

"I happened to look up and Mashiro was there, taken over by a hollow. I called out a warning but I was too late. She kicked Rose in the head from above and knocked him to the ground. Her legs were covered in what looking like a bony shell layer to make them stronger, like the pillars in Kensei's arms." Lisa pretended to be calm and looked at her fingernails, taking note of her ragged fingernails and where she had picked at the cuticles over the past few days. "I had my attention on Kensei while Mashiro went after Shinji and Hiyori—"

—-

"I wasn't gonna last long against her." Shinji looked down as he spoke. "I didn't want to hurt her in case she was still in there, that and she was not fighting like the Mashiro I knew fought. My main focus though was keeping her far from Hiyori, that she might hurt her or if she tried to…" he didn't want to say 'tried to eat Hiyori in her hollowfied state.

—-

"I tried to tell him to put me down, to fight her for real but the dumb baldy tried to tell me to shut up!"

—

"It was pure luck that in the moment she managed to get past my guard that—"

—-

"I'm not as fast as the others." Hachi was a pillar of strength in how calm he was speaking to the gathered crowds as he gestured to his large figure. "I managed to arrive just in time to use Bakudo #75 to pin her to the ground and keep her away from them.

"I then attempted to use Bakudo 63, Sajo sabaku, to try to restrain Kensei as he fought against Love and Lisa. To our surprise, he broke through it using pure physical strength!"

—

"Right as he broke through I sent a small burst of Kido at him, to keep him away from where he had thrown Lisa. I tried to insult him, to distract him—"

—-

"Hachi needed an opening to use a high level Kido, so Rose fired some more bursts and I charged him to keep him distracted long enough for me and Lisa to get out of the way—"

—-

"I had to use Bakudo #99, Kin, on him to finally restrain him. It was in those brief moments when we were trying to assess what exactly had been done to he and Mashiro that Hiyori—"

—

"I hadn't been feeling well, I just thought it was blood loss or something, but my robes," she gestured to where they hung, so tiny compared to the others, "they only had a little blood on them, like my wound had already healed. Then I started coughing and couldn't stop."

—-

"I asked Hachi to look at her. That we should focus on her safety before looking at them."

—-

"Everything began to go dark, I tried to tell him to get away from me, to try to let me go. I started to throw something up." Hiyori shivered as she recalled the feeling. "My spiritual pressure dropped to nothing right as...she started talking."

"She?"

Hiyori ignored the question. "It felt hot and cold, and I could feel my spirit chains start to corrode. One foot was in my inner world, the other was out there as the hollow started to take over." She didn't notice how she was clenching her fists so tightly that her nails had dug into her palms, blood dripping from both of her hands. "She just...ripped away my control as I screamed. I had to watch as she drew my sword and turned on my friends!" Bloody fists slammed against the podium, "She broke away my control and made me try to hurt them. She hurt Shinji!"

—-

"The horn on the mask cut me from hip to shoulder, I still got a scar on my chest." Shinji pulled his Kimono open just enough to show the old mark on his chest while pointing with his other hand to the slash on his old uniform. "Chopped off a bit of my hair too, but right after, it went dark, like real darkness as the others all ran towards us."

—-

"It was really dark. I couldn't see or hear anything. I tried calling out to the others."

—-

"It was like I was lost."

—-

"I felt like I couldn't breathe, that there was nothing there for me."

—

"I thought that death had taken me."

—

"The last thing I remember—"

—-

"The last thing I remember—"

—-

"The last thing I remember—"

—-

"The last thing I remember—"

—

"Pain." Shinji rubbed a bit of his old chest scar that Hiyori hadn't done. "I ended up being the last one awake, just in time to see Kaname reveal himself. Him and Sousuke and Gin." Shinji spat out their names, eyes darkening. "Sousuke told me about how surprised he was that his 'experiment' went so well. He then went on to tell me all about how he was using me, that he chose me to be his captain and about the true nature of his sword." He sighed. "I was an idiot. I let him get close enough to me by pushing him away.

"I got mad and made to go after him, for what he did, but I started to hollowfy. Half of my mask formed and I was sent to my knees." His hand drifted up to touch his cheek, the ghost of the mask chilling it. "I asked what was going on, what had he done?" The hand fisted before dropping to his side.

—-

"I was still partially there. The hollow was confused. She didn't know who to go after. I tried to call out for him."

—-

"He said that it didn't matter if I knew, and then he had Tosen cut Hiyori down as the others all lay behind me, going through the same thing as me." He could still see the strike hit her back.

—

"I was gone." Her voice was tinier than anyone had ever heard it. "Just...gone"

—

"He thanked me. He thanked me for letting him get this far." His voice was getting thick. "He was about to cut me down when Kisuke appeared."

—-

"I disobeyed my orders to leave Shinji's team to go on ahead and leave Hiyori to be found by them. I knew something weird was going on. Before I left the Seireitei, I ran into Tessai who came along with me. We had known each other since we were little, he trusted my gut feeling." Kisuke flicked the fan open-close, open-closed. "We went to Rukon 6 to see if I was right, if I could help.

"Luckily we got there just in the nick of time. I cut Sousuke's badge off and immediately recognized the signs and symptoms hollowfication. It was one of my projects that I didn't involve Hiyori on, I knew her opinions on playing god." He gave a nod to where she was giving him an annoyed look while Love covered the hand that was giving him the finger.. "He tried lying to my face, that he was trying to help them."

—-

"Aizen told Kisuke he was happy that he showed up, that 'his reputation preceded him' and told his subordinates to leave. I tried to fire Hado #88 at him, but he stopped it with a kido of his own, a Danku without incantation."

—

"Right after they got away...I started to lose control, it was like I was getting yanked deep into my inner world. I couldn't talk or hear or...anything. I was gone."

—-

"Tessai used two forbidden Kido to get them all to my lab as quickly as possible, that if we had any chance to try to save him that I had to use the hogyoku then and there." Kisuke snapped his fan shut, and ran a hand through his hair. "I kept them in its light all night, never taking it off of them, but I only managed to stop the progression, not undo it or wake them up. When I awoke the next morning, Shinji's mask was complete. I had been too late. Before I could continue my work, I stepped out to get some air and try to clear my head." Gesturing a hand towards no one in particular he smiled, "I believe the court will recall the accusations and motions to imprison me and Tessai, but—"

—

"I knew from the moment that they pulled Hiyori out of there that Kisuke hadn't done it." Yoruichi lounged atop the podium in her cat form. "The second word got around the Kisuke would be exiled and the others executed, I acted. I took the eight of them from where they were being taken to the Sogyoku to be properly executed and broke into Central 46 and got those two out." She pointed at Kisuke and Tessai with her tail. "I went with them and helped them to get the others out and kept up security while the 8 of them were still unconscious." Stretching out with a small yawn she looked up all the judges. "Anything else you want from me?"

"The court would like to request that you return to human form and give your testimony again in a recognizable form giving testimony."

Kisuke stood up. "The other witnesses would like to remind the court and gathered persons that when she returns to human form that she will not be wearing clothes."

"...The court…allows the cat form account to remain."

—-

"For two years I worked on a way to wake them up, to break them out of their catatonic states. It wasn't until the second year that I managed to get something to work, but it wasn't meant to.

"My lieutenant has a lot of her own rules, one of which she told me about when she got a nasty injury that required surgery. She told me that if by the end of two years that either she wasn't able to fight, live comfortably, or wake up, that she wanted someone to let her go." Eyes were drifting to Hiyori as he spoke. "So I tried to make something to let her go, the opposite of what she was. I took Quincy and human Reishi and combined it together to make something to cancel out both of her sides, hoping that she would just pass on peacefully.

"Imagine my surprise while I stayed with her after the injection, that she began to move, to wake up. She spoke to me, as the mask cracked. I held her and took it off of her and for the next week, Tessai and I did every test possible. It was still her under that mask and spiritual pressure, same for all the others when I gave them their own vaccines."

—-

"After a few years of moping around, Kisuke and Hiyori figured out a way to take down the hollows inside out heads and suddenly...we were close to being us again. We got off our asses and did some traveling, saw the world we had spent so long trying to protect. When yer told you could just as easily be immortal as you could die in the next thirty seconds, ya stop taking the time to debate yer chances. So we saw, we did, and we trained and bid our time for when Sousuke would inevitably reveal himself."

Shinji flashed a white smile up at the judges. "Lucky us, Kurosaki came along and pushed everything forward. We trained the boy up and a little while later we came by in just the nick of time and saved everyone."

He looked back at where the others were sitting together, nervous but looking a good deal lighter.

At the very least, they got to be heard.

"And here we are now."


	7. I Watched It Begin Again

**Author's note: This is a continuation from my little LoveXDarling ship I built and set sail into our waters, and for once Vizz has decided**

 **Write suffer? Not today**

 **Enjoy, like, comment, review, do battle, all those lovely things**

"Seriously, this is your best idea?" Lisa's voice was slightly echoing over the phone.

"Hey, Haru loves these things, and maybe if I get him one of his own that he'll stop hoarding them in his room." Love balanced the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he looked at the various Roombas in front of him. "I'm debating on either getting him a fancy one or a regular one. The fancy one will interest him, but it's not as much of a loss if he decides to mess around with a cheaper one like he does with the ones at home."

"I still have no idea where he got the stuff to make that one able to climb the stairs." Lisa pulled away for a moment, "Haru! Haruto, you knock that off this instance!"

Love raised an eyebrow at the sound of a shriek followed by the fire alarm going off. "I've got to go, Rose's kid decided to microwave some stuff he shouldn't and—"

"I'll pick up a microwave while I'm here, same model?" At her grunt he laughed. "Funny how he's Rose's kid whenever he does stuff like that."

"He sure as hell didn't get the desire to microwave DVD players from me."

"I'll grab one of those too."

"Okay bye. Haru what—" the phone hung up just as Lisa launched into her tirade, Love softly chuckling at the usual chaos of their home as he slipped his phone into his pocket.

Opting to get the kid two of the smaller and sturdier Roombas for the price of the fancy one, Love swung back to the front of the store to grab a proper cart to get the other stuff added onto his list, turning his trip to pick up a birthday present for his soon to be six nephew into a regular damage control trip.

It wasn't that Visored kids were...okay they totally were bundles of danger wearing cute smiles, there was no denying it. Haru, the ever quiet and mute first born of the next generation had taken to playing around with Roombas and plants over the past few years, taking to scientific topics like a fish to water, though this usually led to far more dangerous experiments between him and the other three kids his age while his sister and Teru were still too young to join him in his usually explosive exploits.

He had stopped for just a moment by the cart return to turn up the ringer on his phone, just in case there were any more destroyed devices he'd have to replace, when it happened.

Just as he slipped the phone back into his pocket he stepped from behind the stantion to go for a cart when the air was knocked out of him as something ran right into his chest and knocked the two of them over.

Taking the brunt of the fall, Love groaned as he sat up, looking down at a woman who had run right into him.

"Oh shoot!" The woman's cheeks were flushed as she started to pull herself up. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to ram into you...and accidentally leave that on your shirt."

Love couldn't stifle the small laugh as he looked down at the lipstick she had accidentally stamped onto his jacket, a glittery pale pink against the teal. "It's all okay, I should have been looking where I was going too, are you okay?"

Some part of him should have felt frozen at the sight of that face, so like hers so long ago, back when they first met. What was that warm feeling building up in his chest and rumbling through his mind?

"I'm fine, my ego is a little damaged and I think my dignity is on the floor somewhere near your...Roombas?" She raised an eyebrow at where the two boxes had landed on the ground near them.

"Heh, they're a gift for my nephew." Love smiled down at her as he pulled himself back up to standing, a hand out for her to grab.

"Is your nephew incredibly interested in vacuuming?" She returned the smile, her hand fitting into his perfectly.

"In a way." Picking up the boxes he reached over and pulled a cart out from the return. "You here to get obscure gifts for six year olds too?" Who was this person who flirted so easily? He hadn't been like this in a long time.

"Oh, no." She picked up her purse from the floor. "I was coming by to pick up a few things, I just moved into town and my microwave got busted by the movers and I need a new one to cook my lonely woman dinners."

"You need any help?" Who was this person he was acting like? This side that hadn't seen the light of day in over a century and a half. "I was grabbing a cart so I could go pick one up."

"You have a niece who's enamored by microwaves?"

"Well one thinks microwave popcorn is the greatest thing known to man, but Roomba boy got an idea and microwaved a DVD player." She let out a snort at his response.

"You do this often?" She laughed as she pulled out her own cart.

"Eh, usually they don't break things they love."

"Well I guess shopping with an repeat appliance shopper wouldn't be the worst way to spend my afternoon." Stopping abruptly she lightly hit her palm to her forehead. "I completely forgot to ask your name."

"It's not big issue, it's Love, Love Aikawa."

"Love?" Her head cocked to the side in just the slightest, the sound of his name in a voice like that nearly undoing him. "That's a strange name for someone around here isn't it?"

"Eh, my name isn't nearly as weird as my friends." Another laugh.

"I can believe that if those are the same friends who made a kid in love with Roombas, besides it isn't nearly half as bad as my name."

A grin. "Try me."

"Theodosia." He couldn't help but let out a laugh, a small flash adorning her cheeks. "My parents were weird, but no one ever calls me that."

"What do they call you?"

"When I was 9 I insisted that everyone call me this dumb little endearment instead and it stuck." Smoothing back a few of her curls she flashed him a quick smile, "Besides, Darling is a lot easier to make people spell than Theodosia."

"Darling?" It couldn't be this easy, to have her right in front of him again.

Unless...no. Nothing ever worked out so nicely in his entire life since she left him, there was no way that some cosmic being deigned themselves to do him this solid and give him another chance.

"Normally people don't drawl it out like that, but I like the sound of it from you." She lightly shoved his shoulder and pointed to their left. "Microwaves over that way?"

"Uhh." It took a moment for his brain to restart. "Oh yeah! Right over here."

—-

"You seem...different."

Love looked up from where he had thrown a stray picture book off of his spot on the couch to see all the other adult Visored looking at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You came home later than it usually takes you to pick up stuff from the store and you've been smiling all day." Kensei dropped onto the other end of the couch before jumping up and cupping the jacks in his hands before dropping them in the plastic jar on the table.

"I can be happy." Love crossed his arms and leaned back into his spot. Usually helping wrangle six kids into bed left most of the Visored in a tired and slightly irritable mood under they got to properly unwind for the night. "I just had...a really good day."

It had to had been an illusion or a dream, it couldn't have been that real. The two of them had talked and walked for hours before stopping by at a nearby diner to grab some lunch.

There was no way that she could have been real, but part of him felt this crazy joy knowing that when he looked at his phone that there would be her name and a phone number glowing back up at him.

"You haven't been like this," Lisa plopped onto the armchair and pulled an afghan onto her lap while gesturing at him with a strange expression, "since…"

"Darl?" He finished her sentence for her, noting how the others all looked away. They had all been there, had seen how long he had mourned her, the day he swore to never love anyone but her again, that he would find her again one day.

"It's not bad!" Mashiro flopped into the spot next to Kensei,"It's just been a reeeaalllly long time."

At his hum of agreement it went quiet for a bit, all eight of them enjoying the quiet as Rose prepared a couple glasses of wine and other drinks, the tv softly playing in the background.

Though it wasn't quiet for too long until a realization came over one of them.

"Did…" Hiyori pushed herself up from where she had been leaning against Shinji, eyes wide as she looked at him. "Is she…" she trailed off, unsure of what more to say, to breach the quiet they usually kept around this topic, spoken of maybe once every few decades.

A sad smile grew on his face, eyes warm but questioning as he took off his sunglasses.

"She seems too good to be true." He ran his fingers over the smooth glass of his phone as the others looked over at him. "You did the research with Kisuke, is it really possible to come back so close to your last life?"

"You're making it sound like...like you saw her today." Rose's voice was wary as they all looked at their old friend.

"I'm sure it was her." He felt like a kid, talking about an unreasonable crush on a dream woman. "Down to the last detail, it was her. Eyes, hair, smile, God she sounded the same exact way Darling did!

"I know I shouldn't just let myself fall for a woman that happens to look, talk, and even feel the same spiritually, but…" he looked up from the glass to look at the framed picture his Darling on the mantle. "It was her. I've never felt like this or acted like that with anyone but her." He sighed. "It was like, for once in my life since I lost her that...the universe decided to pay me back for all these years of pain and emptiness, that Love Aikawa finally gets his due! That...I get another chance to be happy like that again."

It was quiet for a bit, it was quite a bit to process.

"Go for her." Everyone turned to look at Hachi. "We've never been handed good hands, but you've got another chance. Even if it isn't truly your Darling you deserve to find someone to make you happy."

Before anyone could speak up, either to agree or disagree with Hachi, the phone began to buzz.

Holding up a hand for quiet, Love's eyes widened for a moment before he held the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Oh good." He couldn't believe the dumb smile slipping across his face. "I was figuring out how to hook this dumb microwave to the wall when I saw my Dustbuster sitting in a box and was reminded of the uncle of a roomba boy, and I wanted to call to make sure he gave me the right number, and to maybe see if he would be free to go out to lunch with me again this Tuesday."

"I don't know," he stretched out, ignoring the gaping jaws of the others as he continued to give them the hand. "Lunch might be a bit hard considering my schedule as a teacher. How about dinner?"

"Moving quickly aren't we?" He could hear the smile in her voice. "Any preference?"

"I know a couple of places, but it all depends. Do you want something casual with some of the greatest diner food there ever was, or do we want to try to outdo one another's wardrobe and eat some quality seafood?"

"Hmmmm." She hummed as he heard her sit down, "You wouldn't mind if I said that diner food always sounds great to me. Tuesday, 8pm?"

He paused, a glance to the picture on the mantle, Hachi's words echoing in his mind.

Her words.

"Perfect. I'll text you the address and we can meet up there."

"Can't wait. I'll see you in two days?"

"It's a date. I can't wait to see you again."


End file.
